


The Girl and her Ball

by Clocketpatch



Category: Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Fandom Stocking 2013, Fractured Fairy Tale
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-15
Updated: 2014-01-15
Packaged: 2018-01-08 19:44:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1136622
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Clocketpatch/pseuds/Clocketpatch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An ex-princess named Amelia, a missing ball, a helpful Toad, and a deadly monster.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Girl and her Ball

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Seasights](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=Seasights).



  
Once upon a time, in a far off land, there lived a young girl with eyes like jade and hair lit with fire. This young girl had been a princess, once, but then the King and Queen were eaten by cracks and the young girl – Amelia – was left somewhat mundane. Given the rules of succession, she should have become a Queen herself; instead, young Amelia found herself under the guardianship of a spinster aunt with a tendency for absenteeism.  
  
Amelia and her sometimes-present aunt lived in a large and creaky house located in a small and dreary village. It was a dull and lonely existence. Amelia's only solace was her favourite toy: a small, blue ball.  
  
Amelia loved her ball. She loved its roundness and its blueness (not quite sapphire, not quite sky, but something altogether more mystical and dignified). Every day, Amelia would leave the large and creaky house and go to sit on the green beside the village pond. She would toss her ball up-up-up, and the ball would seem to hover in mid-air for an inordinately long period of time before finally remembering the laws of gravity and returning to her outstretched hands.  
  
One day, as on every other day since the loss of her parents, Amelia rose early, prepared her own breakfast (the aunt was absent again), ate, and then gathered her ball and set out for the pond. She sat beside it on the soft, green grass and threw her ball up-up-up. The ball hung in the air as it always did, but then, instead of falling into Amelia's waiting fingers, it veered mid-air and splashed into the pond.  
  
Amelia watched the ball sink down-down-down beneath the dark waters. She felt momentarily betrayed by her ball for leaving her alone (as her parents and her aunt had left her alone; as the teasing village children forced her to be more lonely still), but Amelia was not one to give docilely into fate. Moreover, she knew a thing or two about ponds. She began to remove the more weighty aspects of her dress (even in reduced circumstances, Amelia had not given up her Royal Sense of fashion).  
  
She was halfway out of her bustle when the Toad appeared. Amelia did not run and cower in embarrassment as some girls might have done. She still had her undergarments on (all eight of them) and felt that her reduced outfit was more than decent for the purpose of exchanging words with a presumptuous amphibian.  
  
"What are you doing?" the Toad asked. It was slimy and warty with eyes like peeled onions.  
  
"I've lost my ball," Amelia said, "I'm going to retrieve it." She finished wriggling out of her bustle. "And I don't plan on sinking during the process, thank you very much."  
  
"Are you a princess?" the Toad asked. It looked slightly to the side of Amelia when it spoke. Amelia wondered if it could see with its ugly, glassy eyes.  
  
"I used to be. Not anymore."  
  
"Princesses don't swim."  
  
"And toads don't talk," Amelia said. The Toad seemed affronted by her response, but didn't argue the point.  
  
Having shed the heaviest portions of her wardrobe, Amelia waded into the pond.  
  
"You shouldn't do that," said the Toad.  
  
"Why not?"  
  
"Well, there's a monster."  
  
"What kind of monster?" Amelia asked, more interested than scared.  
  
"A monster who is a thousand years old. It lurks in dark places and preys on the hopes of young girls."  
  
"That doesn't sound scary." Amelia took a step further. Mud squelched between her toes. Water soaked the hem of her underskirt. "First off, hope isn't like a heart or a leg. It's not nice to lose it, but you can get it back usually if you don't give up. Or you can find a new one that's just as good. Second, if the monster is a thousand years old, then it's probably very achy and sore like that cranky old dog the village children throw sticks at. It doesn't have any teeth, and I bet your monster doesn't either."  
  
"It has teeth," the Toad assured her. "This monster is a thousand years old, but it has the secret of eternal youth. It has terrible strength and very sharp claws. If you go any further, it will grab a hold of you and pull you all the way down to the bottom. It will keep you as its pet. You won't find your ball and you will never see the surface again."  
  
"I don't believe you."  
  
"Believe or not, it is true. Look around the pond. Do you see any ducks?"  
  
Amelia looked. There were no ducks.  
  
"The monster ate them," the Toad told her.  
  
"I thought you said it lived off of young girls; not waterfowl."  
  
"It was exceptionally hungry, maybe?" said the Toad. "Which means that your plan for retrieving your ball is exceptionally dangerous. Which means that you will almost certainly die if you insist on carrying it out. But-"  
  
"But?" Amelia asked.  
  
"But, I could help."  
  
"A blind toad, like you?"  
  
"Blind I might be, but I know the bottom of this pond better than any. I will find your ball, quick as can be!"  
  
"For what price?" asked Amelia, who was clever enough to know that no favour came without a fee.  
  
"Only a small fee, only a kiss."  
  
Amelia looked at the disgusting, warty Toad. She sighed and wriggled her toes in the pond muck. "Is that all?"  
  
"And I should like to live with you as well. To eat from your table, to sleep in your bed, to follow you everywhere, and be your one true love, etc."  
  
Amelia rolled her eyes. "My aunt always says that boys start with a kiss and then try to get into your bed. I don't mind giving you a kiss, froggy – I'll give it for free – but I'll find my ball my own way. Thank you very much. You can look out for the monster."  
  
Having said her piece, Amelia leaned forward and gave the blind Toad a small kiss on the top of its warty head. The Toad swelled up with joy and swore to stand guard for Amelia forever more. Amelia looked at the Toad fondy. It was still a Toad, but it looked less warty and slimy than before. Indeed, as Toads were, it looked nearly handsome. Amelia thought that perhaps they might be friends - after she finished retrieving her ball.  
  
Amelia dove headfirst into the deepest part of the pond. She swam and she swam and she swam, down-down-down. the pond was deeper than she expected and the bottom took a long time to reach. Her chest began burning, and Amelia wondered if, perhaps, she had dismissed the Toad's offer to readily. Then she saw the bright blue of her beloved ball. Amelia kicked her legs towards it, put on an extra burst of speed and –  
  
 _Woke up._  
  
Amy blinked a few times. She was enmeshed in some kind of machine. Rory was fussing over her and the Doctor was waving his screwdriver about.  
  
"Are you okay?" Rory asked  
  
"I was having a dream," Amy said. She squinted at her husband. "I think you might've been in it. Or maybe not. It was a bit weird."  
  
The Doctor switched off his screwdriver. Amy was glad of that – the buzzing was giving her a headache. "Was I in it?" he asked.  
  
"No." Amy thought of the monster the Toad had warned of. "Maybe."  
  
"Never mind." The Doctor switched his screwdriver back on, much to Amy's annoyance; especially since he didn't seem to be doing anything with it. "We'll soon have you free of all this."  
  
Amy wriggled her fingers a bit. There was a bit of blue tucked behind a few wires. A bit like sapphires and a bit like sky. It was just within her reach. Amy stretched for it. The machine whined.  
  
Rory looked concerned. "Amy, I really don't think…"  
  
Amy caught a hold of the small, blue marble. The machine instantly released its grasp and she stepped free. She grinned at her boggling husband and somewhat perturbed looking Doctor. "Don't worry; I'll free myself."  
  
Then she kissed them both

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Seasight's 2013 fandom stocking
> 
> I like to think that the dream!Amelia was friendly with the village dog and gave him food, a place to sleep, and lots of love (and that the dog, in return, protected her from the crueller children and kept her company when she felt particularly alone).


End file.
